The Way It Could Be.

By Ted Trainer

The first is a c 30 page summary. Its first section explains that a sustainable and just society cannot be achieved without radical and extreme change. Present rich world levels of production and consumption are far beyond those that could be kept up for long or extended to all the world's people.The second section makes clear the implications for the required alternative, The Simpler Way. These include much less affluent lifestyles, high levels of self-sufficiency, more cooperative and participatory ways, an almost totally new economic system not driven by market forces and without any growth, and some very different values. The third section discusses how we might best contribute to such a transition by beginning to build the new systems here and now..

The second account is in the form of a novel taking the reader on a visit to a town which has adopted the principles outlined in section 2. This might be more effective for conveying the experience of living according to The Simpler Way. It offers profound rewards and satisfactions, and a much higher quality of life than consumer-capitalist society gives to people in the rich countries.

AN OUTLINE OF THE GLOBAL SITUATION, THE SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE SOCIETY, AND THE TRANSITION TO IT.

Part 1 (of 2)

Ted Trainer Faculty of Arts, University of N.S.W.

For detailed documentation on the issues discussed here seehttp://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/

For an account of The Simpler Way in the form of a 220 page "novel" describing the fictional visit of a journalist to a town which has followed The Simpler Way, seehttp://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/D80-THEWAY-Prt1-Day1-Morn.html

The form a sustainable and just society must take cannot be discussed sensibly unless we first clarify the essential reasons why the present society is unacceptable. The argument in the first Section below is that this society is grossly unsustainable and unjust and that a satisfactory society cannot be achieved without extremely radical change on several fronts.

The first of the two core mistakes in this society is the reliance on market forces, which guarantees worsening inequality and injustice. The second and even more important problem is the obsession with ever increasing affluence. This directly fuels the major global problems of resource depletion, ecological destruction, Third World deprivation, conflict and a falling quality of life.

Section 2 draws the inescapable implications for the basic a satisfactory society must take. It must be based on non-affluent lifestyles, high levels of self-sufficiency within localised economies, cooperation and participation, an almost completely new economic system, and therefore some very different values.

Section 3 briefly discusses how me might best work for such a transition.

Section 1: THE TWO BASIC MISTAKES.

There are two major faults built into the foundations of consumer-capitalist society causing the main global problems threatening our survival. The first is allowing competition within the market to be the major determinant of what is done in our society.

Fault 1: THE MARKET; GLOBAL INJUSTICE.

Markets do some things well and in a satisfactory and sustainable society there could be a considerable role for them, but only if carefully controlled. It is easily shown that the market system is responsible for most of the deprivation and suffering in the world. The basic mechanisms are most clearly seen when we consider what is happening in the Third World. (For detailed documentation see Note 1.)

The enormous amount of poverty and suffering in the Third World is not due to lack of resources. There is for instance sufficient food and land to provide for all. The problem is that these resources are not distributed at all well. Why not? The answer is that this is the way the market economy inevitably works.

The global economy is a market system and in a market scarce things always go mostly to the rich, e.g. to those who can bid most for them. That's why we in rich countries get most of the oil produced. It is also why more than 500 million tonnes of grain are fed to animals in rich countries every year, over one-third of total world grain production, while 1.2 billion people are malnourished.